Wren is a hardworking archaeologist on his first vacation in years. While he’s tempted to look for ancient artifacts, this is Maui and he needs to focus on taking it easy. So it’s off to the beach to relax. There Wren dives into trouble, literally. Luckily, the backward roll and breathing techniques he learned studying Ninjutsu saves his life, because the shore break called Satan’s Washing Machine grinds him up and spits him out, temporarily blinded and badly battered. A karate dojo owner named Steven takes him to a doctor, a pharmacy, and then back to the beach, only to find Wren’s car and all his belongings have been stolen. So Steven invites him home instead. Will their mutual love of martial arts lead to other a deeper relationship? Or will their shared desire for humbleness and respect for others keep them from falling in love?

Beyond Black Belt

The shower showed me I had scratches and scrapes all over my body. Even the Speedo was ripped, although nobody had told me, and apparently my ass had been hanging out here and there. I managed to not scream too loudly every time I rubbed the sand off, or into, another scrape. By the end of my shower, I just stood there with my head under the water, crying and hoping nobody would hear me. My first vacation in ages lay in tatters, blood-stained tatters. Of course, I got soap in my eyes, which at least gave me a reason for all the tears that joined the cooling water as I ran his tank out of hot. I did let out a screech when it came in full cold, though, and fumbled around until I heard a noise and the water was shut off while my hand was groping the towel bar at the wrong end.


Chapter 4